December 22, 2011(2011-12-22) (aged 88) McKinney, Texas, U.S.
Height
5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Sporting nationality
United States
Career
Turned professional
1949
Former tour(s)
LPGA Tour (founding member)
Professional wins
1
Best results in LPGA major championships
U.S. Women's Open
15th: 1952
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame
2024 (member page)
Bettye Jane Danoff (née Mims; May 21, 1923 – December 22, 2011) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the 13 founding members of the LPGA, in 1950.[1][2]
Danoff began playing golf at age 6. Her parents had opened a driving range and nine-hole golf course in Grand Prairie Texas.[3] She also played under the names Bettye Mims White and Bettye Mims Danoff.
The LPGA Tour was not founded until 1950. Before then, she won four straight Dallas Women's Golf Association Championships in addition to two Texas Women's Amateur Championship. In 1947, she defeated Babe Zaharias, 1 up, in the Texas Women's Open. Zaharias had won 17 consecutive tournaments before losing to Danoff.[4] Also before her LPGA days, Danoff played exhibitions with PGA Tour stars.
Danoff was a mother to three daughters who traveled with her as she played off the LPGA Tour. After the death of her husband in 1961, Danoff played in a limited number of tournaments. She was the LPGA Tour's first grandmother.
^"LPGA Tour founder Danoff dies at 88". THV. The Sports Network. December 22, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
^"About the LPGA - Our Founders". LPGA.
^LPGA Tour founding member Bettye Danoff dies in Texas at 88
Bettye Jane Danoff (née Mims; May 21, 1923 – December 22, 2011) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the 13 founding members of the LPGA...
songwriter BettyeDanoff (1923–2011), American golfer Bettye Davis (1938–2018), American politician Bettye Fahrenkamp (1923–1991), American politician Bettye Frink...
Danoff is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: BettyeDanoff (1923–2011), American golfer Bill Danoff (born 1946), American songwriter and...
2023 LPGA Founders (those not previously in Hall listed): Alice Bauer BettyeDanoff Helen Dettweiler Helen Hicks Opal Hill Sally Sessions Shirley Spork...
in Wichita, Kansas. Its 13 founders were: Alice Bauer, Patty Berg, BettyeDanoff, Helen Dettweiler, Marlene Hagge, Helen Hicks, Opal Hill, Betty Jameson...
film star Darrion Daniels, defensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons BettyeDanoff, golfer, LPGA co-founder Linda Darnell, actress Sahara Davenport, drag...
professional golfer Harry Cooper (1904–2000), professional golfer BettyeDanoff (1923–2011), golfer, one of founding members of LPGA Lee Elder (1934–2021)...
1923), golf historian, Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member 22 December – BettyeDanoff (born 1923), LPGA co-founder 28 December – Teruo Sugihara (born 1937)...
Bessière, 88, French author. Emanuel Bosák, 87, Czech sports official. BettyeDanoff, 88, American golfer, founding member of the LPGA. William Duell, 88...
to 1953. It was an official LPGA Tour event from 1948 to 1950. 1953 BettyeDanoff 1952 Betty Jameson 1951 Mary Lena Faulk 1950 Patty Berg 1949 Patty Berg...
founders including Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Betty Jameson, Shirley Spork, BettyeDanoff and Marilynn Smith. In 2014, she was appointed as a Global Instructor...
Global Information
United States